"It's going to rule him out probably for the season. If he's back before it'll be a bonus," Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"We're going to help him through it and he's got his head around where he is."

The 21-year-old has endured a difficult start to his time with the club after joining from Liverpool for £23.5m in October 2020.

Brewster failed to score a Premier League goal last season as the Blades were relegated but finally got off the mark in the league in the 3-1 Championship defeat at Blackburn in November 2021.

He scored the first goal of Heckingbottom's tenure in the win over Bristol City at the end of that month only to then miss six weeks with an injury picked up later in the same game.

"You can come out of these situations stronger," added Heckingbottom.

"There's a lot of work we can be doing with him over this time. We'll see it as an opportunity to address other issues in his game and try and develop him."